Princess Kate lauds Dabrowski for returning to Wimbledon final after cancer treatment

Gabriela Dabrowski fell just short of winning her first Wimbledon title, but her return to the women’s doubles final after undergoing treatment for breast cancer was lauded by Kate, the Princess of Wales.

Kate met with Ottawa’s Dabrowski and her Brazilian partner Luisa Stefani on Saturday before the women’s singles final. She called Dabrowski an “inspiration” for returning to the grass-court Grand Slam final after her diagnosis in 2024.

Dabrowski announced at the end of that year that she had undergone two surgeries to treat breast cancer following an April diagnosis.

She delayed her treatment so she could compete in the 2024 Wimbledon final with former partner Erin Routliffe and the Paris Olympics, where she won mixed-doubles bronze with Félix Auger-Aliassime.

Kate, who was also diagnosed with cancer in 2024, talked with Dabrowski about “doing the things you love doing, and that bring you joy,” in recovery.

On Sunday, Dabrowski and Stefani lost in their first Grand Slam final appearance as a team, 6-3, 7-5 to France’s Kristina Mladenovic and China’s Guo Hanyu.

Dabrowski and Stefani had not dropped a set at Wimbledon before the final.

Dabrowski is now a runner-up at Wimbledon for the third time after also losing the 2024 and 2019 women’s doubles finals with different partners.

She won U.S. Open doubles titles in 2023 and 2025 and the 2024 WTA Tour doubles final, all with Routliffe.

It was Stefani’s first Grand Slam doubles final after teaming with Dabrowski to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open and French Open earlier this year.

Despite failing to break through with a Grand Slam win, Dabrowski and Stefani have enjoyed a strong partnership this season with three titles, including at the WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championships. They had won a tournament in Eastbourne, U.K., heading into Wimbledon.

“The last few weeks have been absolutely amazing,” Dabrowski said during the trophy presentation. “I couldn’t have imagined being in another position to fight for a Slam title, so I’m very grateful for all the weeks that we have together. I know it didn’t work out for us today, but we’ve put in a lot of good work and I’m still really proud of us.”

Mladenovic won a seventh career Grand Slam women’s doubles title and first at the All England Club.

She has won the French Open doubles tournament four times and the Australian Open twice with different partners but lost her only previous Wimbledon final in 2014.

“It’s really a dream,” said the French player, who missed much of last year with an injury. “I definitely cannot believe what just happened now.”

Mladenovic and Guo only started playing together this year, and it’s a first Grand Slam title for the Chinese player.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

The Associated Press